Ghostbusters 3 Act I
by kennessy
Summary: The continuation of the Ghostbusters after 17 years


**Ghostbusters III**

Written By Kenny B

Based on Characters Created by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis

Cast-

Dan Aykroyd… …Ray Stantz

Harold Ramis… …Egon Spengler

Ernie Hudson… …Winston Zeddemore

Rick Moranis… …Louis Tully

Sigourny Weaver… …Dana Barrett

Annie Potts… …Janine Melnitz

John Leguizamo… …Carlos Vargalos

Steve Zahn… …Patrick Dooley

William Atherton… …Walter Peck

David Spade… …Richard Dooley

Chris Marquette… …Oscar Barrett

And Anthony Hopkins as Hades

With Bill Murray as Peter Venkman

Act I

A woman is walking into an apartment building. She is young and attractive, but alone. She walks by a sign on the elevator that says 'out of service' straight to the stairwell. She is carrying a bag of groceries in one hand, and puts her other hand on the banister going up. As her hand runs along the banister, it suddenly hits a gooey substance. Slime, yet she doesn't know. After reaching her floor, she enters the hallway. With each step she takes, the lights in the hallway black out and go back on. She begins to pick up her pace of walking. As she passes each set of lights, they explode. She is running now, and the lights blink and break as fast as she runs. She reaches her door, breathing hard and beyond scared. Right before her hand touches the door handle, the locks unlock from the inside and the handle turns. The door bursts open with an explosion of light and wind. She screams as if she saw the devil. Music and Logo queue.

During the song and titles, a montage of Ray, Peter, Egon, and Winston is shown. They are getting ready, the Ecto-1a leaves and plows through the night with its siren and lights. As it is driving, the camera follows it. The camera stops on a building. The sign on the Building says "Better Busters."

Fade to black.

"5 Minutes later."

The screen shakes and a thud is heard. Title dissolves away as the screen shakes and the sound is heard again. Camera zooms out to show a black door, which shakes yet again with the thud. Then the other side of the door is shown, where Louis runs into the door with his shoulder. Unsuccessful yet again, Louis turns around to face the other busters, rubbing his shoulder, "Sorry, guys. I have a thing with doors."

"We understand Louis," Egon comforts him.

"Yes well, we've all been there, haven't we?" Peter chimes in.

Winston walks up to the door and kicks it down. "Speaking of being there, I think we're in," he says. Two Ghosts are seen flying around the room, destroying whatever they can. "Who's going first?"

"Ah, yea, turns out I'm allergic to slime," Peter says.

"Back," Ray replies.

"Epidermis," Egon puts in.

"Well, I'm not going," Winston tells them. The group slowly turns to Louis, who is still trying to figure out what Egon said. He realizes their stares, and darts off into the room, but can't get his thrower off of his pack.

"He gets points for lovability, but he can't carry our weight on his twig of a back. Time for some new blood, don't you think, Ray?" Peter asks. Louis finally gets his thrower off and begins to fire.

"Look, we're just in a dip right now, okay? Plus, we don't have the resources. We've already had to reduce Louis's paycheck twice to help get by," Ray explains.

"I thought you said we were all doing that," Louis whines.

"And we are, Louis, in our hearts," Peter remarks. When Louis turns around to join into the conversation, he leaves his proton beam on and almost hits Winston. Winston dives out of the way as Louis shuts off his beam before tripping over a chair.

"Egon, we really need to install those nerd-proof locks that Pete was talking about. Or we could just work on some new equipment," Winston says.

"Nonsense, this equipment is perfectly fine," Egon replies. During the conversation, they have been homing in on a ghost, and now have one contained.

"Did we get him?" Louis asks, squinting.

"Yes we did. We still have that magic boys!" Peter almost cheers, but still delivers it deadpan. Peter picks up the trap to take it out of the way. All of a sudden, the second ghost pops out of the wall right through Egon, who is both stunned and startled enough to fall backwards onto the foot pedal. The trap opens while in Peter's hand, and he is sucked inside…

The camera opens on the exterior of a ratty-looking Comic Book store. Inside, the back room door says, "be back in 5 light-years." Inside the back room, a close-up of a book-stack is shown. The camera pans up the stack, showing different chemistry, physics, and psychology books. It pans about 5-6 feet until it reaches the top. A pair of hands brings another book to a rest on top of the pile. The two hands quickly dart away and the camera zooms out to reveal a blond, long haired man-boy with glasses on (almost like a skinny Milton from office space). He is Patrick Dooley.

"Ah hah! I've done it!" he announces enthusiastically.

A sarcastic murmur is heard from the other side of the room, "Done what?" The voice belongs to Richard Dooley, Patrick's older brother. His face is buried in the latest issue of Green Lantern.

"Done what?! I've recreated the great "Librarian Symmetrical Book Stacking" case of '84, of course!" Patrick replies very excited.

"And I'm excited because….?" questions Richard, too enthralled in his comic to care.

"Because, I'm the first _human_ to accomplish this feat, that's why," Patrick answers.

"No, you're just the first human to have such a boring life that you resort to doing things that dead people haven't even done in 25 years. Go make sure that no one has stolen anything from the front window, Captain Unimpressive." Says Richard.

Patrick leaves the back room. A few seconds later, a yell is heard from the store. Richard tears his eyes away from his comic, huffs, puffs, and rises from his seat. He strolls out of the back room as another scream is heard. Patrick is seen glued to the window. He looks over at Richard, who is about to say something, but puts his finger to his mouth. An unfamiliar siren is heard, gradually getting louder. Soon it's blaring and a black hummer pulls up to the building across the street.

"The Better Busters," Patrick says scornfully.

"So?"

"So? So they're taking all the business from the originals, the dream team." Patrick says, almost with tears in his eyes.

"Maybe your dream, fruit of the room, but not mine," Richard chuckles.

"I'm not kidding! They're my heroes, and ever since this guy Peck (oh I know ill get crapped on for this one) came up with the separate idea for proton packs, he's stopped at nothing to run the guys into the ground. But that's why I'm going to become a Ghostbuster, and save the company!" Patrick says triumphantly.

"Okay sure, but first how about you go and clean up your book tower in the back room. Sound good? Good," Richard finishes.

From them the camera zooms to the hummer across the street. From the outside of the Hummer, a voice is heard. It sounds like a swat team leader shouting orders. He is giving plans about how to attack a ghost. All of a sudden, the doors of the hummer burst open and three men jump out in what look like radiation suits. They run into the building with extremely high tech-looking equipment on their backs. A fourth man steps out of the hummer. From a ground view, the camera first sees army issue boots, and then pans up. A full modified swat uniform is revealed. A name tag is shown, says "Peck." His face is finally shown. A long, drawn out "Faaaaaantasitc" can be heard from him with a smile. He walks up to the squirrelly owner, puts his arm around him, and says, "C'mon, the boys'll be done in a second. Let's go do some math." He smiles wider and winks at the man. They walk off screen.

Dana is walking down the sidewalk after shopping for groceries. In her overly full hands is a cell phone she keeps attempting to hold up to her ear.

"Okay and when is your class over today? Yes, I forgot. Yes, again. Alright good, and you'll be home after that? All weekend? Good, well we'll see you- oh, I have a call waiting. I love you, bye," Dana ends the call with Oscar and answers the call, with the cell phone displaying the words "The firehouse."

"Hello?"

"Oh, hi Janine, how are you?" Dana says, surprised that Peter isn't on the line.

Dana's face falls and her eyes widen. "Oh my God. Is he alright? Right, I know. Okay I'll be right over Janine." Dana slowly hangs up her phone, stunned. She quickly walks to the edge of the sidewalk and begins to hail a cab.

Cut to an exterior view of a cab. Inside is Carlos Vargalos. He is listening to his music, driving and dancing along with it. He does not even notice Dana, who can be clearly seen through the windshield. All of a sudden, the steering wheel begins to turn on its own.

"What the hell?!?" Carlos' hands fly away from the wheel and a perplexed look crosses his face. The pedals are shown moving on their own, and Carlos seriously begins to freak out. The doors lock as he reaches to open them, and the cab screeches to a stop on the curb in front of Dana. The door flies open before Dana is even close to it.

"Oh, thank God," Dana remarks, nodding her head, impressed at the speed with which the cab stopped.

Carlos hangs out the window. "You can get it, Lady, but I won't be responsible for what happens. This thing has a mind of its own," he warns her.

Dana shakes it off, "Just get me to the Ghostbusters' headquarters as soon as possible." She gets into the car and sits down.

"Well, you heard her, do your thing!" Carlos orders the car. With that, the doors slam shut and the car rips out into traffic. Carlos sits, still dumbfounded by the car, but learning to cope. He isn't touching anything, and the car continues to swerve in and out of different lanes extremely swiftly. Dana still hasn't noticed; she is fiddling around in her bag.

Carlos turns around; one arm hangs over the back of the seat, "Hey lady, you close to the Ghostbusters or something?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I'm dating one of them at the mo- WATCH OUT!" Dana cuts herself off as a Mack Truck can be seen through the windshield. She realizes Carlos is not in control and gasps. Just then, the cab corrects itself, and all before Carlos turns around.

"What. What happened?" Carlos casually asks. "Anyway, you think you could get them to take a look at my cab?"

The cab pulls up to the front of the firehouse. Dana jumps out of the cab and runs into the door, closely followed by Carlos, still inquiring about the favor.

Inside the firehouse, Ray, Egon, Winston, and Louis are shown sitting around a table. At the center of the table is the trap, inside of which is Peter Venkman. Each of there faces is sullen, and Louis is looking around, waiting for someone to say something.

"So what are our options?" Ray breaks the silence.

"Honestly, there is not one fathomable option," Egon answers.

"Why can't we just open the trap and let him out? What's the worst that could happen?" Asks Winston. As Egon moves to answer, Winston cuts him off, "You know what, changed my mind, what's the best that could happen?"

"Well, despite the fact that NO ONE has ever successfully attempted to release a spirit, I believe that reopening the trap could suck everything within a 100 meter radius into the trap. Or if we chose to reverse the polarity of the trap in an attempt to "push" Peter out, the energy that is contained in the trap would be released with the intensity of a nuclear bomb. This explosion would flatten all of Manhattan in nanoseconds, send radiation into 5 different states, and could inadvertently cause a Nuclear World War." Egon finally finishes his speech.

"Then what happens?" Louis asks eagerly, as if being told a scary story.

"Then the bacteria that is left will slowly die out from the lack of sustenance," Egon's loving it.

"Okay Egon, I specifically asked you for the best that could happen," Winston says, annoyed. Egon tilts his head forward slowly and looks over the top of his glasses. He is about to answer, but Dana walks in.

Dana is silent for a moment as the four men stare at her.

"Where is Peter?" she asks, trying to remain collected. The four men turn their eyes away from her to glance at the trap.

"He's in there, Dana," Louis breaks the silence, pointing to the trap. The three men glare at him in unison.

Dana drops her bag and runs to the table, "Is there anything you can do?"

"Unfortunately, the only thing not mentioned yet was the option to place him in the containment unit, then reopen it and let him go," Egon tells her. At this point, Carlos walks in. "If we attempt this, however, we will need to open a portal between our world and that of the containment unit. With all of the spiritual forces that we have collected in the past 16 years, the force traveling through the portal could cause an inter-dimensional rip which would release Hell onto Earth. To put it simply (motioning to Louis), Hades would turn New York into his backyard."

Carlos stands at the doorway with a look of extreme discomfort on his face. "I like you guys a lot better on the commercials."

Winston looks up with an annoyed look on, "Who the hell is this?"

Dana is about to answer, and is quickly cut off, "Who am I? Who am I?! Who are you, man, and why do you think you can talk to me like that? I know my history, and you aren't one of the originals. Hell, you aren't even a scientist. I might as well be sittin' in your seat right now." Winston is astonished at the new trash talker in the firehouse.

"Yes, and you might as well have ended up in here," Egon answers, holding up the trap.

"Oh, shit, so the news reports are true? He's really in there?"

"Yes he is, now may I ask why you're here?" Ray says, anxious to move on to a different subject. A distant car horn is heard.

"Oh, well speak of the devil, that's why I'm here," Carlos answers, pointing in the direction of his taxi. Ray and Egon glance at each other.

Everyone is down in the garage examining the cab.

"So, it just sprung to life?" asks Ray.

"Yea, that pretty much sums it up," states Carlos. Egon whips out his PKE meter. It begins wildly beeping and lighting up. His eyebrows go up.

"You said it happened right before you saw her? And Dana, you said the cab came right after you got off the phone?" Egon asks them both.

"Yes," both reply in unison.

"Hm. Ray, come here," Egon nods to Ray. When Ray reaches him, Egon says, "I think Peter's spirit may have possessed this cab."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You said there was no way, in or out of hell, that we could do that," Winston bursts out.

"We didn't do it, but somehow it happened," Egon reassures him.

"Pre-extinguishing telekinetic release? Is that what you're thinking?" Ray asks Egon.

"Precisely."

"Well, it's not unheard of…" Ray begins.

"It is to me. What the hell does that mean, and why is my car driving for me?" Carlos yells in anger.

"It is when the spirit, or telekinetic energy, of a being is released from the body preceding that body's death. Almost like a near-death experience, yet lasting forever," Egon explains. "Peter's goal in life was to be there for Dana, so naturally when she needed a cab, he was there. Honk twice for yes." The car horn beeps twice.

At this point, Janine strolls over. "Guys, the phones have been ringing off the hook. It's almost too much for one person to handle," she stresses. How's Dana taking the news?"

"She's taking it tough, needless to say. But really?" Ray perks up, "We have a job?"

"Yes, a job," Janine answers. "The other calls were people who heard about what happened to Peter and said that they would call the Better Busters next time. And there was one guy who wanted cockroach removal; I said you'd get back to him." (Too much of a reference to the first?)

"You heard her, guys. Let's get going!" Louis attempts to rev the group up.

As the three men sluggishly walk to the lockers to throw their jumpsuits on, Carlos and Dana are left standing by the cab. Janine approaches Dana to console her. Louis runs over to Ecto-1 and tries to start it. The Cadillac sputters and dies. The taxi cab trunk pops open instantly and the horn beeps a few times.

"Well," says Ray to Carlos, "Looks like you've been chosen as our ride. What's your name?"

"Carlos Vargalos." They shake hands.

"Well Carlos," Ray offers him the Ecto-goggles, "How would you like to come along on this bust?"

"You gunna pay for the cab fare?" asks Carlos. He and Ray are standing in front of the cab. Suddenly, the lights go on and the engine revs up. The cab edges forward and bumps Carlos' leg.

"Whoa, calm down Pete. You would have said the exact same thing." Ray tells the cab. The horn honks twice. "Anyway, yes Carlos, we will pay for the Cab fare."

"Alright then, I'm there!" Carlos takes the goggles. Ray smiles wide, shakes Carlos' hand and puts his arm around him in congratulations. "Is this the ghost trap?" asks Carlos.

"Hah, we've got a lot to teach you," Ray chuckles.

"I don't know about you," Winston buts in, from inside the cab, "but I've never had a ghost wait around for me to bust it. Ahem, Ray," the cab honks twice.

"Alright, let's go!" Ray exclaims. They all pack into the car. "Take us there, Venkman. The doors slam shut. The Five Ghostbusters stare nervously at each other. All of a sudden, the cab screeches out of the firehouse. It bursts into mid-day traffic. Dana is left with a perplexed look on her face. Janine walks up to her.

"Don't worry honey, you'll get through this. I wish I could tell you I know how hard this is, but I don't think either of us knows exactly what just happened," Janine tries to smile.

Busy New York City street is shown. Honks are heard, many more than normal. The cab finally bursts onto the screen with unbelievable speed. It is weaving constantly between the cars and trucks that are basically parked on the road. From the outside of the cab, we see the Ghostbusters crammed up against the windows. Carlos and Ray are in the front, while Egon, Louis, and Winston are crammed into the back.

"I never appreciated how uncomfortable these packs were until I had to share a seat with them," Winston remarks. The car engine revs, speeding them up. They have reached the highway, and swerve less while accelerating.

"Yes I agree. I believe that I will begin refining the proton packs after this job. It seems painfully obvious that we need to update this equipment," Egon responds.

"Yeah, painfully is definitely the word," Winston says. The car horn beeps twice. They swerve once more, and begin gaining on a familiar-looking hummer.

"Hey guys, look at that. Is that who I think it is?" Louis asks.

"Yes Louis, it's the Better Busters. Damn, this must be another double call. Let's just turn around now and save ourselves the embarrassment," Ray says, defeated. Instead of slowing down or attempting to turn around, the cab speeds up, getting closer to the massive Hummer.

"Looks like this thing has a different idea, man. When you're in the cab, you do what it wants," Carlos tells him. The taxi pulls alongside the hummer. Peck leans over to look out the window and is surprised to see the Ghostbusters in a taxi. He quickly begins laughing, but Carlos sees this and gives him the finger. He takes it down, remembering his place, "We don't like him right?" Ray shakes his head and is going to answer, but the car swerves and almost hits the Hummer.

"What the hell?" the five men exclaim. They all realize how much they over-reacted at that point and look down at the ground, embarrassed.

"Ray, before the next time we take this thing out, let's strap some wings on it. Less traffic up there," Winston suggests. The cab swerves once more, this time getting even closer to the hummer. Peck's face is in the window, staring at the men as if they are insane. His face changes from this look to a look of intrigue. He focuses intently on the fact that no one seems to be driving. When he realizes his suspicions are true, Peck quickly turns around. Finally, the hummer slows down, and is lost in the traffic behind them.

"It appears as though they've reconsidered their priorities," observes Egon. The horn honks twice.

"You mean like staying out of a terrible car accident?" notes Winston.

"Alright! This town is ours again!" exclaims Louis.

"Not yet it isn't. We still need to actually bust this ghost to prove our worth. And, as of late, that has been a problem," explains Egon.

"Speaking of that," Ray takes over the conversation, "would you like to help us on this one, Carlos?"

"Yea, I mean you might as well take my proton pack, along with my seat, right pal?" Winston jokes.

Carlos laughs nervously, "Uhhh, I don't know if I should do that. Maybe I could just hang in the back and watch. I'd probably only get in the way."

Egon leans forward, "He's right, you know."

"Alright fine, this will be an educational bust then. Just watch what we do very carefully. (whispers) Except for Louis," Ray tells Carlos.

"And try to remember, the streams shot from the proton wands can capture ghosts, which are intangible objects. As you try to comprehend the damage they can inflict one the human body, keep out of their way," Egon advises. Carlos turns around to face front, eyes wide with terror. Louis had been listening to the conversation as well, and turned to face his window with the same face. The rest of the ride is silent.

The cab screeches to a halt in front of a school.

"Oh, great, kids," Winston says unenthusiastically. The car doors fly open, and the men get out, looking like they can finally breathe.

"Well, let's get to it," Ray says, and they suit up run inside. When they enter the building, the Ghostbusters are greeted with nervous and dirty looks. Whispers are heard. The principal swiftly walks up to them.

Ray begins, "Hello, sir, we're the Ghostb-"

"I know who you are. I don't know how you beat the other guys here, but just get to work. It's been mostly scaring kids on the second floor," the principal cuts him off. The five men stand there, waiting to be led upstairs. "That way," the principal motions impatiently. Ray nods his head in slow, painful understanding and leads the men up the stairs. "Just don't kill anyone!" the principal shouts after them.

A hotdog vendor sign is shown. Patrick Dooley is heard making his version of sweet talk to the female vendor as she prepares the food.

"…and I've made the commitment to finally become one of them and save the company and be the hero and-"

"Cool Pat. But I have to get back to work. Okay?" she interrupts him. He whips his head around to see the line that has formed behind him.

He looks back to her and smiles, "Thanks, Julie. I'll see you tomorrow." Patrick walks away. He walks over to an intersection. As he goes to push the button for the crosswalk, he clumsily drops his hotdog.

"Oh man," he says. Pat looks down and sees that the hot dog has landed upright on its plate, completely unharmed. "Wow! What luck! I can tell this is going to be a good day!" he enthusiastically says. He bends over to pick up the hot dog, and just as he is about to grab it, a stray dog runs up and snags the hot dog from right under Patrick. It then proceeds to run across the street with it.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. No no no come back puppy. Come here you cute little poochie pooch." The dog stops and looks back at Patrick, as if listening to what he said. "YES. Good doggie. Now you wait right there while Uncle Patrick crosses the street." Patrick looks across the street to the DO NOT WALK sign, so he presses the button to walk. The dog, still staring back at Patrick, lifts its leg and pees on the light post. "Uh oh," Patrick quickly says to himself. "Okay puppy I'm coming across now. Just don't run away while I cross this-" he looks both ways at the street ahead of him "-this very busy street. Wait there! Stay!" Patrick is watching every car intently, making sure that none of them come close to him, very cautiously walking across the street. He and the dog lock eyes, and the dog finishes peeing then begins to run again. Patrick follows suit trying to move faster across the street, but it does nothing, as the dog is quickly gaining distance between them.

Patrick finally frees himself from the traffic and chases the dog. A chase scene follows. The screen quickly flashes back and forth between the dog and Patrick running. Patrick pauses to take a breather, and the dog rounds a corner (perhaps a sign on the corner says SCHOOL ZONE or something like that). Patrick gets back up, because he pretty much collapsed before, and rounds the corner after the dog.

After Patrick has full view of the dog, he sees it a ways up the sidewalk, about to pee on a familiar looking taxi cab. The dog stands next to the front tire of the car, and starts lifting its leg. At that moment, the windshield wiper fluid is sprayed onto the windshield of the car. Patrick sees this, and whips his head into numerous positions, trying to see who is in the car. Right after that, the windshield wipers wipe the fluid onto the dog right before it is about to pee. The dog yipes and scampers away. Patrick does not even know the dog exists at the time. His jaw is on the ground.

He slowly approaches the car. When he is close enough, Patrick reaches out to touch the handle. The door opens right before he reaches it and smacks his hand. Patrick jumps back and falls over. A terrified/excited look crosses his face as he whips out his phone and hits speed dial #1.

Dana and Oscar are seen sitting on a couch with Janine, when the phone begins to ring.

"Hello, Ghostbusters, how can I help you? Patrick? Patrick I told you, we don't just give out applications, alright? What? Possessed car?" Janine slowly looks up to Oscar and his mother, "yes, we already know about that one. Well they're busy right now. Busting a ghost. Yes, really. Goodbye Patrick." Janine gets back up and walks over to the two on the couch.

Patrick is seen again, still talking to the phone for a few seconds before he realizes that he was hung up on. While he is talking, the camera zooms to the area over his shoulder where the Better Busters hummer is parked.

Inside the Hummer, a man is pressed against the window with a special listening device for long distances. The rest of the group watches as Patrick takes the phone away from his ear and looks at it as if it did something bad to him. Another man with a headset and a pad of paper looks up and says to Peck, "Sorry sir, the distance may be a little much for our equipment. We did get a name though, Rick Dooley I believe. He was calling the Ghostbusters about a haunted car it seemed."

Peck's eyes become very thin. "A haunted car? That would explain the erratic driving they were doing on the road before. This may be of some use to us."

A woman with a laptop speaks up, "Sir, there is a Rich Dooley in our database, no Rick though. We have a home and work address on him."

Peck turns to the front of the car, smiling, "Excellent, that's our man. Let's get over to that address and wait for him." The hummer drives away, leaving a view of Patrick who is rapidly dialing.

Back inside the school, the guys have already split up and spread out to search for the ghost. Carlos and Ray are seen walking together, followed later by Egon, Winston, and Louis. The camera flips to focus on Ray and Carlos after Egon's group splits away. Ray is hunched down, whether it's due to caution about the ghosts or because of the sheer weight of the proton pack on him now, we can't tell. Carlos is following in his footsteps, moving in every way that Ray does. It is dead silent.

Ray breaks the silence. "You know, right about now Peter would have had some smart-ass remark to say," he quietly tells Carlos nostalgically. From outside, a car horn can be heard twice. Ray hears it, pauses, then moves on.

"What ever happened to you guys anyway?" Carlos blurts out loudly.

"SHHH! Will you keep it down!" Ray retorts with a hushed yell. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, I mean you guys were top dogs a few years back, then you just crapped out or something. I needed the truth. A lot of us do," Carlos ditches his macho attempts for a moment.

"I don't know Carlos. We got old. It happens. Everything was good and routine, but then we changed and couldn't stick with the routine anymore. But I always felt it was more than that," as Ray is saying the last sentence, they stop at a corner, and he peeks around it.

"So what else was it?" Carlos asked excitedly.

"Quiet! Carlos, we need to keep it down, alright?" Ray is annoyed a bit now.

"Yea fine, but what else do you think it was?" Carlos lowers his voice a little now.

"Well, what I always knew was that we weren't getting the attention that we needed, that we deserved. We never got it. I mean, we proved that there's life after death! But all we were to the people was a traveling light show, a sort of entertainment. Then this other team came about, younger and faster than us, and we just burned out. I never thought I'd be saying this, but I think Louis might be the reason we're still in business, otherwise the Better Busters would have run us into the ground," Ray explains to Carlos, who gets extremely heated about the Better Busters.

"Man, forget about those assholes!" he yells.

"Alright that's it! No more talking Carlos," Ray exclaims in a hush.

"Why do you keep telling me that? What, are we on some sort of sting operation? I think your going senile or something man."

"Look, I said I was getting old, not losing the touch. If you are too loud and too close to the ghost, the vibrations that your voice creates vibrations in the atoms of the ghost, and it 'hears' you, in a way. When this happens, the central cortex of the ghost goes haywire and it begins to cause even more destruction. Get it now?" Carlos nods his head. "So next time we're tracking a ghost, try to be qui-" and Ray is suddenly cut off by the sound of the school bell in between classes. Children run out of the classrooms and start slamming lockers and screaming. Ray's head falls as he and Carlos are surrounded by the loud middle school kids.

Camera comes back to Egon, Winston, and Louis. Egon is walking in front of the group, P.K.E. meter in hand, examining every inch he can of the building. Louis is right on Egon's tail, yet again emulating every move he can. He has no meter, but is looking at each place that Egon looks at, squinting as if it will bring out the ghost. Winston is just standing in the hallway behind both of them, looking away for a moment to give the kids around him dirty looks. He looks back up to his two teammates, who are completely enthralled in searching, then shrugs his shoulders and looks back down at one of the kids. "Hey, you seen any ghosts anywhere?"

"Who the hell are you?" the kid asks rudely.

Winston straightens his posture and says, "I'm a Ghostbuster."

"So, you're asking me to do your job for you? I'm sorry, but I'll have to leave that to you, while I go become a productive member of society," the kid retorts. He then turns his nose up and walks away, leaving Winston standing there stunned.

"You've got to be kidding me," Richard says, shaking his head and folding his arms. He is staring at Patrick as Patrick tries to coerce the taxi into doing something supernatural.

"I'm telling you, this car has been possessed by a spirit. Just look!" Patrick pulls out a mysterious device and begins fiddling with it. After he twists a few knobs and flips a few switches, the device begins beeping and lights up. "Yes! Hah hah! See! I told you! This thing is crawling with paranormal activity. That's why my P.K.E. meter is going off," Pat exclaims excitedly.

"_That_ is not a… whatever you call it. _That_ is an old radio and some dental floss," Richard motions towards Pat's hand. "You just missed your daily dose of The Avengers and now you're delirious. I'm going to leave you now, Patrick. I'm going to go get food and try to forget that this ever happened. Get back to the store and make us some money. Bye-bye."

Richard begins to walk away, and Patrick begins to chase after him. "Wait! Don't go, Richard! I swear, the car really moved on its own!" Richard continues to walk away, and walks right past a man who turns around to face Patrick. Patrick stops chasing Richard, throws his arms down, sighs, and turns back around to the taxi. "I bet you're having a great laugh about this, aren't you?" Pat asks the car as he kicks it. As if in answer to this, the car opens its door into Patrick's leg, knocking him over. The man who turned sees this and his eyes go wide. He quickly turns around and speeds away, but the backpack he is carrying obviously has the Better Busters logo on it. As he disappears, Patrick slumps up against the car, and his shoulders and head fall in defeat.

Back inside the school, an empty hallway is shown. Proton blasts can be heard, muffled somewhat behind closed doors. Suddenly, a small pink ghost appears through a wall. It pauses in the hall, and then goes up into the ceiling. From the door next to the wall that the ghost burst out of, Louis stumbles out of the room. His head darts in all directions, until a glob of slime falls on Louis' head. He looks up.

"Guys, we lost him," Louis tells Egon and Winston, as they come through the door after him. Winston keels over, hands on knees, breathing heavy and trying to catch his breath. Egon is right behind him, but stops to lean against the doorway. He follows Louis' gaze and looks at the slime spot on the ceiling. Egon takes out his radio and calls up Ray.

"Ray? He's gone up another level; do you think you can get to him?"

The radio crackles and then Ray's voice comes across, "I've got him Spengy! But you'd better get up here fast; I won't be able to hold him for long." With that, Louis takes off upstairs, followed slowly by Winston and Egon, both breathing heavily as they go.

Back outside the school, Pat is still laying in defeat against the car, trying to figure out what to do. All of a sudden, his head shoots back up and he smiles. He grabs his phone again and calls up the local news. "Hey, can you guys send a broadcast van over to p.s. 112? There's something weird going on here. Yea there's a car moving by its self! Hurry up and get here!"

Camera pans up through the floor to Ray upstairs with the ghost in his proton stream, with Carlos standing ready but unsure of what to do. Louis barrels into the room and runs right into a desk. He rights himself and reaches behind his back to grab the proton wand, misses a few times and finally grabs it. When he finally turns on the proton pack and is ready to fire at the ghost, Winston and Egon come into the room from behind him.

"Tully, what the hell do you think you're doin, trap-man?" Winston yells. "Put the stick away and get ready to catch the thing!" Winston and Egon both pull their wands as Louis puts his away.

"Alright. Egon, Winston, set up at equal distances from me," Ray yells to them over the clatter in the room. The ghost begins to pull away from the stream, and Ray starts to lose him, "Whoa there big boy. Hey, whenever you two are ready, just fire away!"

Right after Ray says this, Egon and Winston fire their wands and recapture the ghost.

"Louis, get the trap out quick and on the count of three, toss it out there!" Ray yells to Louis over the commotion. Louis fumbles around with the trap as he can't get it off of his belt. Ray is counting down, and looks over to Louis nervously. He sees Louis not able to get the trap out and in focusing on this loses the ghost.

"Louis, we need that trap NOW!" Ray screams as the ghost starts pulling away from Winston and Egon. Carlos shoots a look over to Louis, who is even more entangled in the trap at this point. Carlos examines the situation and then bolts over to Louis and grabs the trap off of his belt. He throws it in the middle of the ghastly mess, and then looks up toward Ray, almost in astonishment of what his instincts just made him do.

"Don't stop there kid! Slam your foot down and catch the damn thing!" Ray encourages him. Carlos looks down at the footpad, and stomps down on it just as Egon and Winston lose the ghost. The ghost jolts forward as if it is about to get away, then reverses direction and is sucked into the trap. While the audience expects a cheer and a clever catch phrase here, the four veterans are only able to express a large sigh of relief before falling onto the closest chair.

The comic store is shown again, with Richard walking in from the outside. We are brought up close to the entrance, where Richard is casually walking up to, singing "Iron Man" (maybe) in his very own fashion. He gets to the door and sees the closed sign still up and becomes quickly angry. "Idiot. So now lunch time means early closing, I suppose, right Pat?" he says with the intention of being heard on the other side of the door. He unlocks it and walks in after there is no answer. "Pat? Did you forget to turn the sign AND forget to unlock the door this time? Hello?"

"Hello."

Richard whips his head around, "Whoa there, buddy, ya scared me. Didn't see ya over there. Hey have you seen the other guy that works here?"

"No I can't say I have. But I have been waiting quite a while for someone to show up here."

"You've just been sitting here in the dark by yourself? I'm gunna do us both a favor and leave the lights off. And you have to buy everything you touch. Hey, how'd you get in here if the door's been locked?" Richard steps closer to the stranger.

"The back door was unlocked."

"Of course it was. I hope he never procreates," Richard says, shaking his head.

"Well that's not too nice of a thing to say, Mr. Dooley. Not very nice at all," the threatening voice of Peck declares as he steps forward into the light.

Richard steps backwards into two better busters behind him. "Wh-wh-wait. You're that guy! You're Peck! The guy that ruined the Ghostbusters!" Richard stammers.

Peck replies, "Ruined is such a harsh word. I think of it as gave them what they deserved. But we have much more important matters to discuss, if you'll be so kind as to join us, Mr. Dooley."

The two men behind Richard lead him out, and he complies with little fight. They all get into the hummer and it drives off.

Outside, there is a news van sitting next to the sidewalk. The news crew stands staring at Pat as he is again trying to get the car to move. "This is a joke, right? The real car that moves by its self is somewhere close, right? Did I really just say that? That's it. You know what, let's just go," the female reporter angrily says to Patrick. She begins to storm off and he is left in his usual seat against the side of the taxi. "I'm tired of all these freakin' ghost stories- Are those the Ghostbusters?!

Pat is sitting against the cab, apparently depressed as the Ghostbusters come out of the school. He slowly looks up at what all the commotion is, and perks up immediately when he sees who it is. He stands up and quickly walks over to the growing crowd. He gets within earshot of the crowd just in time to hear Ray speak to the mass of people.

"Yes, it looks as though the Ghostbusters are finally facing change within the ranks," Ray tells the group. Patrick's face lights up with excitement at this announcement. "This is our newest member, Carlos Vargalos."

Patrick's excitement is now overwhelming him. As the questions begin being thrown at the Ghostbusters, Patrick jumps up and down behind the crowd and raising his arms up and down. "Ghostbusters! Hey, guys, over here! I think I've found something that you should take a look at!"

Louis, who is standing behind the rest of the team, notices Patrick over the commotion and taps Winston on the shoulder. "Hey, Winston, I think this kid has something to show us." Winston looks up to Pat, who is still waving wildly behind the spectators, who are now completely focused on Carlos. Winston acknowledges Patrick and begins to grab the guys. One by one they look over to Patrick and start moving out of the limelight. Carlos is the only one left talking to the reporters before Ray realizes they left him behind.

"Well I realize how this may have only been my first bust, but I think we can all tell that if there was an all-star Ghostbusting league, I'd be the only member." Carlos brags to the cameras and microphones. Before he can continue to embarrass himself anymore, Ray jumps back through the crowd and grabs his arm to pull him over to the taxi. "Don't worry my loyal fans I will be back to sign autographs later-" he's cut off as he struggles to get back into the crowd but fails. Ray brings him over to the taxi.

"Hey, what the hell are you doin' man? Those are my people over there!" Carlos gets in Ray's face and yells at him.

Ray grabs Carlos on the shoulder and tries to settle him down, "No, those are not your people. YOUR people are dead. YOUR people float now. That's our forte. Now come on."

They make their way to the taxi, where Winston is standing facing away from it looking bored out of his mind. He looks up to them, "It must be good, I don't understand a word."

Ray chuckles at this and walks by Winston. Carlos stops to talk with him as Ray makes his way over to Egon and Patrick, who are standing by the hood of the car. Egon is examining Patrick's homemade P.K.E. meter while Pat is nervously looking over his shoulder like a student watches a teacher grade a test.

Ray breaks the anxious silence, "So, what have we got here?"

Patrick jumps at the opportunity to answer the question, "Oh, it's a class 3 possession. The spirit remains unfinished and undead, and cannot escape its automobile prison until its life goal can be fulfilled." Egon is looking at him as they stand next to each other, astonished at how expertly he rattles off this information. During Patrick's speaking, Carlos, Louis and Winston stare at him with their mouths hanging open.

"Whoa, you're saying that that kind of shit actually happens?" Winston and Carlos say at the same time. They both immediately look at each other after this is said and Winston quickly looks away in embarrassment.

Ray sighs as Winston should know it by now. He looks to Patrick and says, "Thank you, but we're more-or-less aware of that. I was referring to what Dr. Spengler was holding there."

"It's a homemade P.K.E. meter. He built this thing from scratch. Without any information as to how ours functions," Egon is very impressed with Patrick.

"Ooookay, well I guess this takes us to the more relevant question: who the hell are you?" Ray turns back to Patrick. He is also very impressed.

"Oh, uh, I'm Patrick. Patrick Dooley. I've also built other equipment as well," Patrick begins as Winston, Carlos and Louis make their way over to him. "I have prototype ghost traps and proton packs that are all theoretically in working order. The thing is, I haven't solved the power problem yet. The ideas I have so far are-"

"Hey, look, I know all these gizmos and gadgets get you all excited. Maybe too excited," Carlos interrupts him while stepping between Patrick and Ray and Egon. "But if you wouldn't mind I'd just like to get back over to the huge crowd of press that wants to rip me apart. And, well, that gets me excited, so can we please go back over and reclaim that Ghostbusters crown through the magic of my charisma?" Ray and Egon turn to look at each other in silent debate. Winston sees this and already knows the outcome, so he stars taking off his gear and putting it back in the car. He nudges Louis to do the same.

"You know, it sounds like a real blast Carlos, but we're going to have to wait on that stuff because if we keep this up there will be much more where that came from. Plus we have a mourning widow to attend to back at the firehouse. We should really get going," Ray explains to Carlos. "Hey kid. Uh, Patrick, do you want to come with?"

Patrick looks at him though his glasses with surprise all over his face. The rest of the guys start getting into the taxi. Patrick moves his look to Egon, who is giving an awkwardly friendly and inviting smile.

"Oh, wow, I'm honored Dr. Stantz. I'd love to but I have to get back to work at the shop with my brother. Maybe I could come by the firehouse later?" Patrick replies.

As Ray is getting into the taxi, he says to Patrick, "Yeah, that works. Whenever you're finished with work you can come by-"

"And maybe bring some of those designs you were talking about!" Egon yells from inside the taxi.

Ray looks at Egon, waiting for him to finish talking, "Right, yeah, do that too. Alright when you want to come just go down-"

"Oh, I know how to get there, don't worry," Patrick cuts him off.

"Alright see you there then," Ray says as he joins the others in the taxi cab. The car horn honks twice and then takes off onto the street.

Show the shop again. It is empty on the inside. There is no "closed" sign on the door.

"Hello? Richard? Are you in here?" Patrick looks around at the empty store. When there is no reply, he inquires again, "Dick?" and giggles. Patrick walks up to the front desk and grabs a pen and paper. He scribbles on the paper and runs into the back. Seconds later he comes back out with a bag and rushes out the door in a foolish and excited way.

Cut back to the firehouse. Dana is sitting upstairs on the chair she first met peter in, crying. Janine is sitting next to her on the couch, consoling Dana, while a picture of Peter sits next to the trap on the table. "He would always say how it would be over soon. That he was just waiting for the fortune that would come with the better busters buying you guys out," Dana says, somewhat to herself and to Janine. Janine looks away in discomfort for a moment.

Oscar is tinkering with the equipment that litters the depreciating room. He puts on a pair of Egon's goggles and catches a reflection of himself. "God, couldn't they make this stuff look better? At least make and attempt to appeal to the female population. What, are they scared of things that are alive?"

"Oscar, can't you see the mess your mother is in right now? Can you please sympathize with her?" Janine yells at him.

"What?" He moans, "First of all, he isn't even really dead. He's hanging out in a taxi cab. If we actually bury him, then I'll get misty. Second, now he'll be much more available to spend time with since he can't really be busting any ghosts anymore. And third, he's a car now, so that means no more paying for gas. Now to me, that's… …a winning situation." He smiles back to her.

As Oscar speaks, the taxi bursts into the garage downstairs. "Well, speak of the devil- er, nevermind," Oscar says. When the car comes to a stop, Carlos is the first to jump out.

"Woo- hoo! Say hello to the newest Ghostbuster! I am the greatest! I'm like the Muhammad Ali of ghost busting! I can zap all the poltergeists and trap like a fiend (said like Ali says the butterfly and bee speech)!" Carlos seems to be able to sustain his self praise for a while. The other guys get out and ignore him, as they've dealt with him the whole ride home.

Janine walks to the stairs to see what the noise is, but is stopped by Ray on his way up.

"She's taking it fairly tough," Janine motions to Dana. "And he isn't making it any easier for her. But what the hell is that down there?" She asks Ray.

Ray looks at Janine and replies, "I think if you just a second of that ranting, you'll be able to answer that. He did very well on that bust today, I think we've gained a new team member, whether we like it or not. I'll take over with Dana from here. You can go see Louis now." He is anticipating her eagerness.

Ray walks up the stairs as Janine goes down. She stops midway down the stairs and tells him, "Be sensitive." He stops and turns to look back to her, nodding his head yes. She starts to turn away, adding, "This guy had better not get paid more than me." Ray shakes his head and smiles as he heads up the stairs while Janine walks down.

When Ray gets up the stairs, Oscar is standing there covered in equipment. He looks up, surprised and embarrassed, at Ray. Ray looks back at him, frustrated, "Go downstairs, Oscar." Oscar takes everything off and goes down the stairs with everyone else. Ray walks over to Dana, sits down next to her and hugs her.

Downstairs, Janine runs to Louis excitedly. He is in the middle of taking his equipment off and awkwardly hugs her back. "So what's this guy doin' here anyway?" Janine asks him quietly, referring to Carlos, who is still raving about himself.

"Oh, well he did just great on that bust. He really seems to know what to do," Louis answers her enthusiastically.

"Yeah, and he seems very aware of it," Janine stresses back.

"Yeah, I'm beginning to wonder if Pete actually possessed him instead of the cab," Winston jokes from the nearby lockers. The car beeps three times. "Oh, is that a no?" Winston replies. The horn honks twice. Winston realizes he just had a conversation with a car, and looks up to Egon, who is just returning from the containment unit with some observation equipment. "Hey, Egon, how come all the ghosts we meet aren't this communicative?" he asks.

"Because I don't believe that Peter is actually a ghost," Egon answers in a scientific tone. Ignoring the two honks of the horn, he adds, "He may not even be dead."

"I knew it!" Oscar exclaims from over by the stairs. Everyone looks to him, and yet again he is embarrassed. Even Carlos, who momentarily stops his self-praise, looks at Oscar.

"Yo, have some respect man," he tells Oscar. Everyone nods in agreement, and as Louis and Janine head over to the lounge for some food, Carlos exclaims, "... for the best Ghostbuster in the world! AHH HAHAHAH WOOO!"

He starts dancing and singing again, until Winston quickly walks over and stops him, saying, "Look, we all appreciate your natural talent for throwing things and then stepping on things, but let me show you everything they showed me when I started here. We can go look at the containment unit, and all the different equipment, then we'll have Egon tell you a nice story of spooky ghosts and a giant Twinkie." At this last part, Carlos looks disoriented enough to be ushered out of the room by Winston. Oscar and Egon are the only ones left in the garage.

Egon has sat on a wheeled stool next to the taxi cab. Oscar walks over to the car and begins to look at it. "If my dad isn't dead, then what is he? He sure doesn't look alive to me," Oscar says to Egon as he kicks one of the back tires.

Before Egon can answer, the trunk pops open and some air is released from the value onto Oscar's leg. He dives back, very startled. "Actually, I'm not sure what has happened to Peter yet. As you can see though, he is still the very same spirit that has been haunting us for years."

"Hmm, yeah I can see that. Why a taxi though? And how come he didn't haunt the place he was killed in, like a normal poltergeist?" Oscar inquires. Egon looks up from his readings and turns to Oscar.

"I thought you were studying business?" He asks Oscar.

Oscar shrugs, yet again embarrassed, "Well it's just something I picked up from growing up with you guys all around. Don't worry, I'm studying business. I'm not coming anywhere near this profession."

Egon goes back to circling the car the car in the stool and fiddling with the different meters he has. "…Okay. And in answer to your question, I believe in all honesty that Peter belongs entirely in that trap. But for some reason, his 'essence' was able to find its way out of his body and roam around before finding the taxi. This feat would have taken an incredible amount of energy to accomplish, and once finding and inhabiting the cab, Peter would have most likely run out of that energy. As far as I can tell, he is bound to this object for eternity," Egon tells Oscar while pointing at the car. Oscar moves to the Cadillac and rests on it.

"So what does this thing do?"

"I dunno."

"Okay, how about this thing?" Carlos picks up a piece of equipment.

"Couldn't tell ya, but put it down!" Winston answers him. Carlos puts down the part and looks around the room.

"Alright. But do you how at least one thing in this room works?" Carlos asks with a huff, referring to the room that is littered with tons of mechanical and chemical equipment.

"Not really, no. To be honest, I don't think I've ever been in this room before. This looks like an 'Egon Room' anyway. We should get going," Winston tells Carlos. They leave, and on the way out they walk past 3 subtle test tubes labeled 'spores,' 'molds,' and 'fungus.'

"And in regards to Peter choosing the taxi," Egon continues. "His 'essence' simply followed closely what Peter held closest in life."

"Which was my mom I guess, and she was hailing the cab. Wow. You're good," Oscar compliments Egon. Carlos and Winston come back out into the garage from downstairs.

"I try," Egon quickly dismisses it. "Hm, these readings look very promising."

"What do they look promising for, Egon?" Winston asks as he and Carlos walk over towards the cars. Carlos and Oscar express their curiosity also.

"Well, based on these readings, it seems Peter has turned the taxi into a sentient being, making it 'alive.' As alive as a car can be, he controls every piece of the machine independently of an energy source. As the car doesn't have a voice box, these movements are his form of communication," Egon elaborates, without noticing Ray and Dana appearing from the stairwell. "Therefore, in the same vein that doctors give communicating computers to patients who can't speak anymore, I can attach a device to the car that would, say, read the horn beeps and return them to us as words." All around the room, people just look at Egon in awe, both surprised at the possibility and worried for his sanity.

"So, Peter is going to be able to talk to us?" Dana asks.

"Eventually, yes. I'll have to take these readings back to research them and refine some new technology, but I will be able to figure it out. Oh, good, you're here," Egon looks to the door of the firehouse, where Patrick has just walked in. Egon walks over to him, staring at his bag of equipment the whole time. "Is this what I think it is?" He asks with a knowing tone.

"Huh? Aw, yup. I brought everything. All my sketches, tools, and everything I built. I hope you like what I've done with it all!" Patrick tells him, very nervous and excited about the prospect of Egon reviewing his ideas. He hands the bag to Egon and Egon scurries back into his office. Patrick walks further into the firehouse from the front door. He makes sure to keep his distance from the taxi, making it fairly obvious that he's scared. He walks by Oscar, who looks at him and suppresses a laugh. When Pat gets to the back of the room he stands along the wall, and Carlos walks over to join him.

"Hey, man, how can you make all that stuff, you don't seem like a scientist or geek at all. You're more like a nerd," He asks Patrick quietly, pretending not to care too much.

Patrick answers him whole-heartedly and loudly, "Well I do a lot of reading. You know, Math, Physics, Paranormal Psychology. Plus I basically know more about the Ghost busting technology than any civilian."

"Wait, how'd you manage to get that information? No one knows much about us, not even the government," Ray says defensively.

"Ray, I don't think the government has the time or the energy to call me every five minutes of every day until I tell him something about that stuff," Janine explains while she comes out of the lounge. Louis is lying in the office on a couch, asleep with a half-eaten sandwich on his chest.

Winston and Carlos both snicker and begin to walk out. They go into the lounge with Louis and watch TV. Janine sits at her desk and starts writing on different papers.

Oscar can't hold it in any longer, "HAHAHAHA! Wow. So you spend your down-time from- wait, where do you work?"

Patrick tells him, "My brother owns a comic book store."

"Naturally. You spend your time off from that place in pursuit of information about Ghostbusters? I feel like I've had more of a life laughing at you just now than you've had in years! Ray, who is this guy?" Oscar turns to Ray.

Ray looks at Patrick, with astonished surprise in his tenacity. "Actually, Oscar, he's a very dedicated genius." The car horn honks twice. Oscar giggles. Ray, without even turning to the car, says, "It wasn't sarcasm, Peter." The horn beeps two more times. "So you agree with me then?" Two beeps. "Hm. Apparently Pete saw this in him as well, which is probably why he stopped Patrick and helped him to meet us," Ray finishes his explanation, nods for Oscar to leave the room, and waits for the car to reply with its beeps. Silence. Oscar walks up stairs, smiling.

He looks perplexed as Dana speaks up, "That really doesn't sound like Peter, Ray."

"Actually, the only reason I noticed him was because he sprayed wiper fluid on a dog," Patrick informs them both.

"That sounds more like him," Dana says, almost with a smile.

"Uh huh, and then he decided to be just a normal car when the news cameras showed up," Patrick continues.

"Not stealing the spotlight? That doesn't sound like Peter at all," Dana remarks, disappointed.

"He's changed since he became a taxi," Ray mentions.

"Yeah, they all thought I was crazy. I was actually really embarrassed," Patrick goes on.

Ray and Dana shoot each other looks of enlightenment and say in unison, "Peter." They both follow this up with a light smile at the car.

Egon comes back into the room, "What's this?"

"Nothing. We just realized that it's really Peter that's still in there," Ray answers.

Egon pauses, and looks at him with an almost annoyed look, "I know. I've told you that." He looks to Patrick. "These designs are impressive. Look, we need new equipment and the resources we have don't allow for researching different approaches to new designs. Can you develop these with me, get some working models made for the team?" he asks Patrick.

Patrick is stunned, "You mean help out the Ghostbusters? Me? Help you guys? Save the team? HELL YES I will! I've been dreaming of this for years!"

"I bet you have. Get a life!" Oscar yells from the lounge.

Patrick shakes it off but barely noticed it in the first place. "When can we start?!?" he asks with a yell.

"Let's get to it now. We've already had one accident too many with the current equipment," Egon tells him.

"Okay great! Let me just call my brother and let him know I won't be back tonight," Patrick tells him. He takes his phone out as Egon walks him to the lab. The phone on Janine's desk rings and she picks it up.

"Hello Ghostbusters. Yes, they're available. Well of course, they'll be right over. No, thank you, sir," Janine ends the conversation. She hangs up the phone and slams her hand down on the alarm. Everyone in the garage perks up. In the lounge, Louis wakes up with a start and the sandwich launches off his stomach. Carlos jumps off the couch with surprise at the new sound. Oscar simply continues sitting with his ears covered as Winston gets up and grabs Louis and Carlos and takes them into the garage. The car horn is beeping like crazy as the men get their suits and equipment ready. Egon remains at the back of the garage, not getting ready.

Ray looks over to Egon, "You're not coming?"

Egon answers back, "I'm not squeezing back into that car. Patrick and I will stay back here and work on his new equipment." Patrick gets no answer from his brother while Egon is saying this, but his distress is short-lived as he hears that he and Egon have become part of a team. He smiles wide as they walk back into Egon's lab.

Ray shrugs in disappointment and gets into the car.

"Yo baby, don't distress, man! Who needs a geek when you got Carlos on the team?!" Carlos comforts Ray in the taxi.

The Carlos' car door opens and his seat belt unbuckles and flies by his face.

"No, Pete. He can stay," Ray tells the car.

Winston leans forward, "Do me a favor. Just shut up about yourself for this ride, 'kay?" Carlos shakes his head as the door closes again. At this, the men are all in the car and the wheels burn on the ground as it peels out of the garage.

The cab quickly pulls up to the building. The Ghostbusters get out, and first thing they see is the mod of news cameras and reporters everywhere. At this point the theme music kicks in and all the men smile. Carlos raises his arms and walks into the crowd to be engulfed, followed by Winston and Louis. Ray hangs back for a moment, and says, quietly to himself, "We're back." He smiles and runs into the crowd and further into the building.

End of Act I

44


End file.
